Misael Enamorado Dager returned to the island with his family after arriving in the United States approximately a year ago through the humanitarian parole program.
14ymedio, Havana, 3 April 2025 — Misael Enamorado Dager, former first secretary of the Communist Party (PCC) in Santiago de Cuba, self-deported from the United States to Cuba at the end of last March, as confirmed on his digital site by journalist Mario J. Penton. The former official returned to the Island with his family after arriving in the United States a year ago through the Humanitarian Parole Program.
Enamorado, who was also part of the Central Committee of the PCC, was harshly criticized for his initial link with the Havana regime and his subsequent departure to the United States. “The former communist leader made the voluntary decision to return to Cuba after receiving multiple legal notifications and an increase in public scrutiny,” Pentón explains.
Pressures on Enamorado became more intense after Republican Congressman Carlos Giménez included his name on a list of 100 Cuban repressors who were to be deported to the Island. In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the Republican said these individuals represented “a threat to national security.”
These agents of the Cuban regime must be identified, investigated and deported immediately, stressed the congressman. Giménez was born in Cuba and become one of the most recognized faces against the Castro regime in southern Florida as mayor of Miami-Dade county between 2011 and 2020.
Enamorado, who was also part of the Central Committee of the PCC, was harshly criticized for his initial link with the Havana regime
In the time he spent in the United States, Enamorado could not obtain permanent residence (green card) despite having taken advantage of the Cuban Adjustment Law. His past as a collaborator of the Cuban regime was an insurmountable obstacle to legalizing his situation in Houston, Texas, where he lived.
The former official held the position of secretary of the PCC in Santiago de Cuba from 1995 to 2009, and in 1997 he was promoted to the Political Bureau. In 2009 he moved to Havana and was part of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the party organization, until he was dismissed in 2013 by order of Raúl Castro.
According to Pentón, the Enamorado family owns a luxurious residence that they rent to tourists in Cuba, “presumably a personal gift from the Castro family,” a detail that further fueled his rejection by Cuban exiles.
The voluntary return of Enamorado to the Island sets a precedent that could be followed by other former officials of the Cuban regime who are currently in the United States. Among them are members of Cuban State Security and prosecutors linked to trials against opponents.
The former official held the position of secretary of the PCC in Santiago de Cuba from 1995 to 2009, and in 1997 he was promoted to the Political Bureau
In August of last year, the former first secretary of the Communist Party in Cienfuegos, Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, arrived in Miami. After accumulating merits on the Island, where his political career and affiliation to the regime top a substantial list of positions and distinctions – including that of “coordinator of the Coordination and Support Team of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro” – the official decided to spend his retirement in the United States, where part of his family resides.
Many before him have tried to achieve the “American dream” and have done so with impunity, as happened with Yurquis Companioni, a counterintelligence agent in Sancti Spíritus. In other cases, they have clashed with the US justice system. This happened to Liván Fuentes Álvares, former president of the National Assembly on the Isle of Youth, who – after the procedure was approved and he was about to travel to the United States – was denied humanitarian parole.
More recently known was the case of Judge Melody González, who sentenced four young people from Villa Clara to prison – without evidence and by order of State Security, according to her own statements – for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at regime officials. González is now facing a legal process in the United States, where she arrived requesting political asylum last May, after being denied entry with the humanitarian parole she had obtained. The former judge, currently detained at the Broward Transitional Center, in Florida, will have to prove, after a first failed attempt, that she is eligible for international protection.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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